At the recently completed 2026 Winter Olympics, the United States won the gold medal in both men’s and women’s hockey, with their teams defeating Canada in the gold medal game in both instances. Both teams made it through their respective tournaments undefeated.
On Sunday night, after the men’s team defeated Canada, they celebrated in the locker room with the FBI Director Kash Patel, and then took a phone call from President Donald Trump. Trump, in the call, offered to send a military aircraft to ferry the team back to the U.S. for Tuesday’s State of the Union address, while also inviting them to visit the White House.
Per Huff Post, Trump later stated, “And we have to — I must tell you — we’re going to have to bring the women’s team,” leading to laughs in the locker room. “[If I don’t] do that, I do believe I probably would be impeached, OK?”
The comment drew some fire for Trump. Many noted that Ellen Weinberg-Hughes, the mother of U.S. men’s players Jack Hughes and Quinn Hughes and herself a former hockey player, had served as an adviser to the women’s national team.
Trump tells the US men’s hockey team he’s going to begrudgingly invite the women’s gold-winning team to the White House, too, or else he’ll be impeached. The male players then laugh at the idea that the women would be included. https://t.co/XmOxxXErAj
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) February 23, 2026
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Instantly nuking the goodwill from women that Heated Rivalry generated for the NHL.
Masterful gambit sir https://t.co/dyzQSI4yxS
— Hollee (Sydney Sox fan) (@RedSoxYapper) February 23, 2026
They all should be ashamed of themselves. The only reason any of them even exist is because a woman gave birth to them. Laughing at a joke talking about the women’s team being inferior when they won the SAME medal is inexcusable.
I expect that kind of behavior from Trump but… https://t.co/F0KaiEoSN2
— 𝓔𝓶 ♡ (@emkenobi) February 23, 2026
Meanwhile, the women’s team stated, through a spokesperson, that they have declined an invitation to attend the State of the Union address.
USA Hockey spokesperson: “We are sincerely grateful for the invitation extended to our gold medal–winning U.S. Women’s Hockey Team and deeply appreciate the recognition of their extraordinary achievement…They were honored to be included and are grateful for the acknowledgment.”
— Monica Alba (@albamonica) February 23, 2026
Photo courtesy of the Political Tribune media library.
